Ok, when I got my first aquarium when I was in high school, it quickly became apparent that if you buy a hob filter, each brand comes with filter cartridges that fit each particular filter. It says on the directions on most (if not all) of them that the filter cartridge needs to be replaced at least every month. Most experienced fish keepers on here seem to go with the idea that taking out the media is bad unless absolutely necessary and carbon is not needed. So what I don't understand is why the filter companies sell the cartridges with the idea that you HAVE to use them for your filter to work properly, you have to change them, you have to use carbon, etc. So do you guys think that they are doing this because they make money off of people buying the cartridges? Or is this completely wrong?

I just feel that the companies that make the filters are not doing that great of a job to inform the customers of proper filtration needs....I kind of think the cartridges are a rip off, because they clog so quickly, the carbon doesn't do much of anything unless you specifically need it, and then every time you replace it you are getting rid of bacteria. I just feel bad knowing that there are newbie aquarium keepers that don't know this and are probably wasting money and not realizing that there are betters medias out there for their filter. What do you guys think?

i hear what you are saying. but the manuf need to sell their filters as a replacement. they need to make money. if you use the filters for lets say small tropicals, the recommended directions would be fine. as most of us here are into golds, and especially cause of how messy they are, we sometimes have to deviate or come up with our own ways of getting around the filter media. remember that we are lucky to have found and to be able to use this site to gain valuable knowledge where others out there cant or havent been able to. i could put more thought into it with ya but thats my quick 2 cents. lets see ehat everyone else has to say

i can see it from two different angles...
on one side i can see where the filter companies are just soaking people for tons of money.
but on the other side, i can see where your average joe may not do the correct amount of water changes as obsessively as we addicts do. it may be that the filter companies realize that people arent going to be perfect or even remotely perfect in keeping up with water changes and so they've added the carbon to aid in keeping the water cleaner for longer in hopes that people wont kill their fish as quickly...

but in reality, i would imagine its probably just them trying to soak us for all we're worth.

Acidstars, welcome to being an informed fishkeeper, and being able to point out flaws in filter and other aquarium companies. Just today, I was looking at filters online, and saw filters being advertised as suitable for tanks "up to 50 gallons", where in reality they pumped 170-200 gallons per hour, which is awfully low if you are keeping goldfish.

The companies probably enjoy the money spent on filter cartridges, honestly. I personally haven't been dis-satisfied with filter cartridges, and think they do a pretty nice job. My filters have two removable sponge pieces, an actual filter cartridge (with floss and carbon), but also an additional sponge to house more good bacteria and catch more debris. I usually only change the cartridge part, and have stopped doing that as much.

I also agree with Liz's take on the matter, that the carbon is added to aid the "average joes". That makes sense to me, because probably at least half of the people with fish out there don't hold quite such high standards in the care of their fish as the people here at Koko's do.

Interesting discussion!

So does the development of biowheels mean that filter manufacturers are trying to do a better job? You never replace the biowheel, but change the rest of the media out regularly... so it's better for the fish, and the manufacturer still sells all those replacement filter cartridges.

Even the filters that don't have bio wheels usually have at least a sponge to house bacteria. On the actual instructions for the filter, it usually says something about how chemical filtration (in the form of carbon) is needed to maintain a healthy aquarium. This seems sort of misleading to me, and that is one reason why I was wondering if you guys thought that filter companies were deliberately misinforming customers, or whether they actually had a point. It seems to me that it would be better to have even more filter media to collect bacteria that isn't disturbed, instead of replacing the cartridge every month.

I'm sure you can keep a healthy aquarium if you do choose to use the cartridges, so maybe the bottom line is that they are helping you have a healthy aquarium in the most profitable way.

From what I've read on here and gathered myself, it sounds to me like carbon helps to keep nasties out of the water, and helps keep the water clear. It's nice to have carbon in my filter, but really isn't vitally essential to the aquarium's health. I think of it as an extra bonus help, rather than a necessity.

So, the companies have somewhat of a point. I don't think they are diliberately misinforming people.

On all my HOB filters I use sponge media to grow the biobugs, and I use the replaceable carbon bags too. I know that the carbon runs out after about two weeks, and I usually only replace the bags in the filters monthly. I could probably get away cheaper by ordering fine floss and cutting it to size, stuffing the extra space with another sponge in order to get more biobugs, but I just never found the motivation yet to do so.

I think that the companies know the average consumer is not going to set up a fish tank and then do all their homework when it comes to fish care and tank upkeep, so at least by suggesting to people they change the filter carts every week the tank gets at least one good cleaning per month. I mean c'mon, who hasn't tried to do it the 'easy way' and just jerk out the filter floss to pop in a new carbon bag? You get all kinds of mess floating around the tank and then you have to do a total clean up to get rid of the ugly stuff floating around.

Plus, they turn a profit from it too so it's good for them. They can only sell a filter once, but they can sell floss and carbon over and over as long as people keep buying it.

I try to do my best by helping share the word about this site, and informing anyone that will listen about some of the basics of fishkeeping. Most people won't listen, but if just one person does then it will make the difference in the lives of a couple fish and it was well worth the effort.